ASTEC Digital is bringing asphalt equipment to life with extended reality

ASTEC Digital customers view a to-scale proposed plant in extended reality.At an on-site demo for ASTEC Digital customers in May, a group of 20 people were staring just left of an ASTEC ReMix cold central plant recycle system at what, at first blush, would have looked like an empty stretch of land. But if you put on an augmented reality headset, what they were looking at would become clear: aggregate bins, an asphalt cement tank, additive silo, and material conveyors rendered in full scale so customers could see how they would link up to the primary CCPR blending load when installed at their site.

ASTEC Digital’s extended reality solution brings asphalt plants to life in augmented reality through advanced 3D modelling, physics simulations, and, eventually, real-world IoT data. ASTEC customers can use the asphalt XR to visualize their proposed plant or equipment before it arrives at their site.

The asphalt XR also allows customers to view a plant or piece of equipment at full scale, allowing them to see how a new component would attach to their existing equipment in the field.

“It’s interactive and easier to understand the plant without having to imagine what that third dimension looks like, and it enables clients to make changes to the plant before they purchase it,” says Chase Walker, senior simulation engineer at ASTEC Digital.

The augmented reality models are generated from plant layout drawings or computational simulations of ASTEC equipment.

Viewing an asphalt plant in augmented reality has been roughly five years in the making, Walker says because the technology itself had to mature. When he began working on the project, AR headsets needed to be attached to “a gaming computer” to operate. However, within the past 18 months, the XR technology has rapidly evolved to be transportable and easier to use.

That has allowed ASTEC Digital to bring its asphalt XR solution to trade shows so customers can experience ASTEC equipment that is not physically present on-site and take the headsets to customer sites. The company now even has headsets built into hard hats.

“We’ve reached a point where our colleagues in ASTEC du Brazil can do XR customer experiences without me needing to be there; I can manage it remotely. It’s been a cool experience for folks to look at stuff on the ground,” Walker says.

Walker himself has been behind some technological evolution, says Kris Robertson, product manager at ASTEC Digital, who also works on XR. “Chase is such a champion of the tech. He even has our XR partners developing new features specifically for ASTEC.”

Walker and Robertson have been consulting heavily with experts across ASTEC to find new ways to use XR and have big plans for the technology. Walker says this is an opportunity for customers to visualize components that would otherwise be too dangerous to see in real life—such as a crusher or a burner—and better understand ASTEC’s sophisticated product design.

ASTEC Digital also plans to eventually allow customers to, through the XR, use a library of component models and GPS mapping of their own site location to build the plant that suits their specific needs in the virtual space.

The full-scale option will also allow customers to walk through a life-size digital twin of their prospective operation to verify elements like component placement, traffic allowances, and grading.

And “down the road,” Robertson says the asphalt XR program has potential as a training and field-use tool for asphalt plant employees. “It could be a device connected with IoT data; people in the field could put on the headset and learn about maintenance, procedures, and processes, and connect with ASTEC personnel in a virtual enhanced space.”

Optimize your operations with intuitive, precise, intelligent asphalt plant control systems. ASTEC Digital’s telematics and plant control systems simplify and improve equipment, plant management, and paving operations for the rock to road industry. Visit our website to learn more.